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Lesson 7

"At Ease in Zion"

(Amos 6)

Introduction: What do you want for your future? The future of your
children? You want respect, health, enough money to live
"comfortably" (financial security), your own home and secure and
loving family relationships. Anyone have something to add to this
list? They had that in Israel and Judah, but Amos is complaining
about it. Let's jump into our study and discover whether we should
modify our dreams!

Complacent in Zion

Read Amos 6:1,4-6. Are these people respected? (Yes, they
are "notable" and people come to them for advice.)

How is their food situation? (They are well fed and
they drink wine by the bowl.)

How is their financial situation? (They have
expensive furniture and they use the finest lotions.
They sound like they have money.)

How are their family relationships? (They seem to be
playing music together - spending time with each
other.)

So, what is the problem? (Amos says they are (v.1)
"complacent" and they "do not grieve over the ruin of
Joseph.")

A number of years ago I read an article attacking
"celebration" worship. The thesis of the article was that
we should not be celebrating, we should be sad and serious
about our sins. I dismissed the article as obvious
nonsense because it failed to cite a single Bible text.
Could the verses we just read have been cited in this
article?

Should we be sad and grieving over sin?

The real focus of the complaint in these verses seems
to involve this term "the ruin of Joseph." It is
obviously important, what do you think this means?
(Read 1 Chronicles 5:1. The sons of Joseph are spoken
of as being given the birthright. Thereafter, the
Bible sometimes refers to God's people as "Joseph."
These people are complacent about the fact that their
nation is being ruined.)

What obligation does that suggest for us today?
( Romans 5:1-2 tells to rejoice in the hope that Jesus
has given to us. We are not called upon to be sad. In
fact, if you look up the word "rejoice," in a
concordance, you will be amazed at how often it
appears in the Bible. On the other hand, we are to
take seriously the sin problem in our life, our
family, our church and our society. Comfort and
success in our life can desensitize us to the sin
problem.)

Learning Lessons

We skipped over Amos 6:2-3. Let's read these verses. When
you see someone you know get in trouble, do you worry
about that happening to you?

This week a friend of mine died of a heart attack.
I've known him for about 20 years and I spoke with
him at church hours before he died. He was in his
40's and a bit younger than I am. Do you think I
thought of all of the reasons why I might have died
instead of him? (No. Aside from having to admit he
was younger than I am, I tried to think of all of the
reasons why this should NOT happen to me.)

Do you do that - try to think bad things will not
happen to you? Have you ever considered the ages at
which your parents died and compared their situation
to yours? (Sons often think of the age when their
fathers died, and then compare their life. My father
was several years older than I am when he had a
massive heart attack. I tell myself that I am
thinner, eat a better diet, exercise more, etc. than
Dad did. Why? Because I want to convince myself of
all the reasons why the same thing should not happen
to me at his age.)

What is God's point in Amos 6:2-3? Why does putting
things off bring terror? (Remember back to when we
started studying Amos. In chapter 1 Amos was talking
about the sins of all of the neighboring countries
and how God was going to punish them? God now says in
verse 2 "Look what happened to these neighbors. Do
you think you are better than they are?")

Did the people think what happened to their
neighbors could not happen to them? (Yes. As a
result, God says in verse 3, terror is heading
your way. God gives His people a reality check.
Instead of telling ourselves all the reasons why
our sins are not as bad as those of others, we
need to learn a lesson from what sin does in the
lives of those around us.)

Consider the picture Amos paints. The people are living
well. They are complacent. When they look over at the
disaster hitting other people they say, "Hey, glad that's
not us!

What God Hates

Read Amos 6:7-8. "Abhor" and "detest" are pretty strong
words. Brown-Driver-Brigg's definition for the word
translated "abhor" is "loath." Is there anything about you
that God should loath and detest? What is it that God
loathed about His people? (Their pride and their
fortresses.)

I'm short on fortresses these days. What do you think
God means? (Strong's tells us that the word
translated "fortresses" means "to be elevated" and
applies it to a castle, palace, or citadel.)

What attitude do you think God is describing? (The
picture I see here is someone who thinks he does not
need God. He gives himself credit for his success. He
thinks he is "elevated" above others so that he
depends upon himself.)

Does God hate fancy homes? Didn't we start out
saying we wanted wealth and comfort for
ourselves and our children? Is that a problem?
(Maybe. It depends on our motives and our
attitudes. This gets back to the "adornment"
issue ( 1 Peter 3:3-4). If we wear fancy rings,
expensive jewelry and cloths, drive fancy cars
and build great homes to show off that we are
better than others, then we have a problem.)

Is the sin in the money spent on these things or
in the attitude they reveal?

I am a "car guy." I love cars. But, for years I
drove old vehicles that I thought God led me to
"find" for bargain prices. (For example, a $200
Honda Accord, a $1,000 Isuzu truck.)I thought
God was working on my pride by having me drive
these vehicles. At the same time, I was worried
that people would conclude I was not a very good
lawyer because I drove these old cars. Even
today I drive old cars - and have not paid more
than $10,000 for any car during the last 14
years. Today, however, my cars are very expense
looking. (A Mercedes "S class" and a Corvette.)
If the sin is in the appearance, rather than in
the money, am I still nursing an attitude God
detests? How about you in your adornment,
clothes, cars, home?

Does "the church" do enough to combat the evils
of pride and self-reliance? Or, do we reward
"self-made" men and women by giving them high
church offices?

A Lack of Common Sense

Read Amos 6:9-10. Amos pulls back the curtain to show the
people the coming destruction. Verse 9 suggests a lot of
people in one house. This is in contrast to the rich
lifestyle pictured in verses 4-6. The fact that someone
comes to burn them suggests that they may have died of
plague. The "good news" is that some live. However, those
who live "must not" mention God's name. Why is that? (J.A.
Motyer's commentary on Amos says that they have walked so
long out of God's will they had no liberty to speak his
name. The lesson suggests it could be because they no
longer believed in God. Perhaps they blamed God. Another
suggestion from the lesson is that the unhealthy side of
guilt kept them from turning to God.)

Consider the sequence of actions in verse 10. The
person left alive is asked if anyone is with him.
What is the logical answer to that? (If I were
answering, it would be "Praise God, I was spared. God
is with me!" I think the fact that he "must not"
mention God shows a continuing lack of a proper
relationship with God.)

Read Amos 6:11. Do you fancy house people feel better now?
(Both the great and small houses get smashed. This shows
that it is the people's attitude towards God, rather than
the size of their house, that creates the problem.)

Read Amos 6:12-13. Do horses run on rocky crags? Do you
plow on rocks? Why is God asking these questions? (God is
saying what a lot of parents say to their children, "What
IS wrong with you?" Have you lost your mind? Where is your
common sense?)

In what area have the people lost their common sense?
(First, they were trusting themselves and not God.
The retaking of the city of Lo Debar (compare 2 Kings
10:32-33 with 2 Kings 13:25) was based on God's
assistance (see the story in 2 Kings 13:14-19), but
the people claimed it came through their own power.)

Friend, how about you? God calls on us to use our common
sense to turn to Him for life. We must not trust ourselves
or our wealth. Our goal in life is a right relationship
with God, rather than wealth and comfort.

Next Week: Vision One - Locusts and Prayer

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